


Pause, Go Back

by xu_ming_wow



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Car Accidents, Fainting, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Kinda, M/M, Not Beta Read, Supernatural Elements, Time Travel, cus we die like men, it gets more dramatic later on i promise, renjun has a secret power
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2019-08-28 02:43:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16715064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xu_ming_wow/pseuds/xu_ming_wow
Summary: Renjun didn’t know if his power was a curse or a blessing. Either way, the Universe picked him for a reason, whether he liked it or not.Usually he managed it just fine. He was certain no one knew about his secret ability.But bad things keep happening.Someone is going after him, and it’s putting his members in danger. He has to do something, before it’s too late.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I really should be updating my other fic instead of starting another one but I can’t resist the urge. Hope you enjoy this mess.

Renjun was only 7 years old when he first realized he had powers.

He was playing with his soccer ball inside the house (exactly as his mother told him not to do) when he accidentally kicked it too hard, sending it flying towards the glass vase on the mantel.

Renjun squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the sound of glass shattering, followed by his mother storming into the room to scould him. But instead he was met with no sound at all, an eerie silence settling into the room quieter than the boy could even imagine possible.

The young child opened his eyes, gasping in awe at what he was seeing. There his ball was, floating in midair, seemingly stuck in place. He made his was over to it, circling around it as he stared in confusion, reaching his hands up to grab it when suddenly the ball was moving forward again, only this time it wasn’t flying towards the glass on the mantel, but directly towards Renjun’s face. The ball made contact with his forehead, knocking him to the ground from the force. The boy rubbed his head to try and soothe the pain, more confused than he had ever been.

He had no clue what had just happened or why it happened, and the more he thought about it, the more it didn’t make any sense.

It was as if time had been... stopped.

But no, that was impossible. Renjun was a smart boy, he knew things like that didn’t happen in real life.

So, he did what any logical 7 year old would do, he asked his parents. Mom and Dad always had the right answers, surely they would be able to explain what happened.

But when he tried telling his parents, his father only laughed at Renjun’s “growing imagination” while his mother fused over the giant bruise showing up on the boy’s forehead.  So he brushed it off with a shrug, too young to have the attention span neeeded to contemplate it further.

_____

 

The next incident happened only a week later.

Renjun was walking home from school, jumping over the cracks in the side walk (he didn’t really believe that stepping on one would result in a spinal injury for his mother, but Renjun was never a boy to take chances), when he saw the most horrific thing he had ever seen in his young life.

Out of nowhere, a cute little puppy was dashing towards the road, making it only a few seconds before being hit by oncoming traffic. Renjun stared in horror at the blood streaking the road, leading up to what used to be a dog wedged under the front tire of a truck. The boy remained frozen in his place, tears welling up in his eyes and a knot forming in his stomach when suddenly everything was moving again.

Except everything was moving backwards, like a VHS tape held on rewind.

He watched as the puppy sprung back to its feet in a reverse run to its front porch, lying down in its previous spot next to its owner. Then it all happened again, the dog perking its ears up before making another mad dash towards the street. This time Renjun knew what to do, running forward to grab the puppy’s small body right before its feet hit the asphalt.

The dog’s owner rushed over to Renjun, taking the dog from his arms and thanking him over and over again before going back into his house, scoulding the young pup the whole way there.

____

 

Renjun quickly realized that something was going on, but he had no clue what. Similar instances continued to happen, where time seemed to stop or rewind inself when something bad was happening. He soon realized that he was the one that was doing it, and nobody else appeared to notice or be affected by it.

As the weeks rolled by, Renjun began to get more curious of his newly discovered power. He wondered if he would be able to control it, instead of it randomly happening whenever something were to happen.

So the boy spent many hours out of his day attempting to practice stopping and rewinding time at his own will. At first, there was no luck, but over time he was able to pause and rewind for a few seconds at a time on his own call.

As he played with his powers more and more, he realized the affect it had on his body. After a while, the boy would grow incredibly exhausted, and more often than not he would get a nose bleed. That’s when he became far more careful with how long he used his power, knowing that it could cause severe damage to his health.

His parents grew worried over their son’s spontaneous lack of energy and his sudden nose bleeds. They took him to the doctor, who deemed Renjun as “one of those kids” and told them not to worry as it was a normal thing that some kids went through when they were growing. Of course Renjun knew that wasn’t really the reason why, but there was no way he would tell them the truth since he didn’t want to be locked in an insane asylum before he even reached double digits.

So Renjun kept the secret to himself, only using his power when he had to while still being able to improve his skill. Even though he never planned on telling a single soul about his special ability, he could still have some fun with it. 

Once Renjun had reached his teen years, he was far more powerful than he anticipated he could get. He was now able to pause and rewind time for several minutes before he felt his energy begin to drain. He had significantly less nose bleeds, everyone else thinking he had seemed to have “grown out of it”. The only time he really felt an impact on his health anymore was when he both rewinded and paused time back to back. He only did it a couple of times, not thinking it would affect him as bad as it did. But each time he did it he would collapse to the ground, nearly unconscious as blood ran down his face from his nose. So he decided that particular use of his powers would have to be saved for emergencies only, hoping that such emergencies would never happen.

But Renjun’s life was pretty uneventful other than the whole power thing, so surely nothing like that would ever happen. Really, he was just a normal boy with a very special secret, nothing more to it.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Debuting in NCT was probably the best thing to happen to Renjun.

When he first left China to train at SM Entertainment, he was absolutely terrified. He was worried that the agency would change their minds once he showed up, worried that he would lag behind the other trainees too much and they would send him packing, becoming a disappointment to his parents. But he quickly became at ease as he got adjusted to life in Korea with the help of his new friends. Now, he can’t imagine what his life would be like if he didn’t take that chance. 

Being in the spotlight certainly has its perks. He loves performing, loves his fans, and loves his members like family. But he has never had to be so careful with his actions. Harboring such a huge secret like his was extremely difficult as an idol. Of course, he didn’t really expect anyone to accuse him of being a time manipulator, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

So despite how close he was to his members, he never said a word to them about it. It’s not like they would believe him anyway.

He has had a couple of slip-ups every now and then. One time he had dropped a glass, so he paused time for a moment to grab it before it shattered on the floor. Time resumed again, and he placed the glass back onto the counter.

”How did you do that?” He heard from behind him. He turned around to see Jaemin staring at him with wide eyes. Oh crap.

”What do you mean?”

”I just saw you grab that glass out of midair without even moving. Your hand wasn’t anywhere near it but then it was.”

Renjun pursed his lips. “Hmm, maybe you blacked out for a second there Minnie.” He said in a poor attempt of an excuse.

Jaemin shook his head. “No way, I saw the glass fall but you just... caught it out of nowhere. There’s no way anyone would be able to do that.”

Renjun thought for a moment. He could just rewind a little to prevent the glass from falling at all and Jaemin wouldn’t be freaking out now, but too much time has passed for it to not affect him, and they had a bunch of schedules for him to be so drained of energy.

He sighed. “I don’t know man, maybe I’m just that skilled.”

Jaemin wasn’t convinced. “But-“

”Can you just drop it Jaemin?” Renjun said a little too harshly, making the other boy flinch. Renjun turned back around, hearing Jaemin wall away after a moment.

He has hoped that would be the end of it, that Jaemin would forget about it. But a few weeks later, while doing a Vlive broadcast with him and Jeno, Jaemin started to tell the fans about it.

”It was so weird. It was like a glitch in the universe or something.”

Jeno laughed at him, saying how he must be going crazy while Renjun started breaking out in a cold sweat. He considered rewinding to try and stop him from saying anything, but he didn’t know how he could do that without looking suspicious.

He saw the comments go by, some saying how weird it was, others agreeing with Jeno with saying Jaemin was going crazy. But one comment stuck out to him.

”Wow, Renjun must have some kind of superpower or something ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

His rational side was telling him that the fan was joking, but he couldn’t help but get nervous. He knew fans would keep talking about it, coming up with theories about why it happened, and he couldn’t help but think that there was a small possibility that his secret would get out. Who knows what would happen to him if people found out. He’d probably get locked up in some asylum or get tested on by government scientists like some kind of alien.

Luckily, the broadcast ended soon after, the boy’s dispersing to go to bed. Renjun lay in his bed, unable to sleep with how much he was thinking. He was gonna have to be more careful than before. He needed to stop using his ability so often for such small things. Only for emergencies from now on, no matter what.

___

Renjun loves performing on stage, obviously. But sometimes comebacks were just so exhausting. They were constantly busy between performances, interviews, fansigns, and other random promotions that they hardly got any time to sleep or rest. Not to mention how they were always rushing to get from each schedule, seemingly always late.

Promotions for Black On Black was very interesting, seeing as how it was the first time all of the member of NCT were promoting together. They had finished there performance a while ago, and were about to head back on for the ending stage to announce the winner. They weren’t nominated today, but Renjun didn’t really mind.

As he stood there with his members, he suddenly felt like someone was watching him, and not in the usual way. He glanced out into the crowd and made eye contact with a tall man wearing all black. He had a mask over his face and a pair of sunglasses on despite being indoors, so his face was difficult to see. Shivers ran up Renjun’s spine as he looked at the man, a sense of dread settling in a pit in his stomach. 

His trance was broken by confetti shooting out, everyone cheering and congratulating the winners. He felt someone grab his shoulder to guide him off stage, following automatically. Renjun looked back into the crowd where the man was standing, except he wasn’t there anymore, or anywhere in the crowd. Renjun tried to convince himself that he was just seeing things, but he couldn’t shake the bad feeling he had in the back of his mind.

The members got back to their dressing room, gathering their things to head to their next schedules. The other members had a radio show scheduled afterwards, while the dream members minus Mark would be headed back to the dorms.

”Renjun, are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.” Jaemin said, slightly startling Renjun. “Oh- Yeah I’m fine, just a bit tired is all.” He tried to say as brightly as possible. Jaemin looked at him quizzically before shrugging and turning away. Renjun let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

As they headed to the car, Renjun kept looking over his shoulder, paranoid of the man he had seen earlier. He knew he was being ridiculous, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of that man’s cold gaze.

Once they drove away, he relaxed some. He reasoned with himself in his mind, telling himself that he was just tired and needed to get some much needed sleep. He leaned his head against the window, closing his eyes to take a small nap before they got back to the dorms.

He was asleep for maybe a couple minutes before he felt a large bump jolt the car. He sat up quickly, clenching onto the seat as the car began to spin out of control. The manager was trying desperately to gain control again, but it only made it worse, sending the car right into oncoming traffic.

Renjun clenched his eyes shut as he felt the impact of another car hitting theirs.

Their were hits from all sides, one right after the other for what felt like an eternity. Once it finally stopped, Renjun cracked his eyes open. He immediately scanned his body looking for any blood or broken bones, sighing in relief when he neither felt or saw anything to indicate he was injured. 

He glanced over to his side, letting out a gasp in shock. “Jeno!” The boy next to him was clearly unconscious, blood running down his face and neck from an injury Renjun couldn’t place. His leg was in a contorted position that didn’t look natural at all, and he couldn’t tell if the other was breathing or not.

Renjun looked around the rest of the car. The other members didn’t look much better than Jeno, everyone unconscious and clearly injured. He let out a choked sob, panic rising in his throat. He couldn’t let anyone be hurt, and he couldn’t stand the thought that they might be dead. 

Renjun knew he could only do one thing. It was dangerous, but he had to try in order to save his friends. Renjun clenched his fists and closed his eyes, channeling all of his energy into his power to rewind.

He had never rewinded as far as he needed to now, but he didn’t let himself think about it as he felt the car move again, slowly traveling backwards from the crash to the broadcasting station. Renjun felt his body move automatically, traveling with the rest of the members back inside and into the broadcasting station. The rewinding was slowing down as Renjun lost his energy, and when he couldn’t press on any longer, he let go.

”Renjun, are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.” He heard Jaemin say again, but this time it didn’t startle him. He tried to reply like he had before, but his body was too weak to get the words out. He felt something run out of his nose, not bothering to wipe it away as he fell to his knees.

”Oh my God, Renjun? Renjun, can you hear me?” A panicked voice called out to him, and it was the last thing he heard before his vision went completely black.

___

Jaemin has been watching Renjun as they walked to their dressing room. The boy seemed extra jumpy for some reason, like he had seen something traumatizing. He walked over to the him after gathering his things, not noticing his face get progressively paler.

”Renjun, are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.” 

As soon as the words left his mouth, he noticed the stream of blood running out of Renjun’s nose. Jaemin stared in shock as the other’s eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to his knees, hard.

Jaemin gasped, grabbing Renjun by the shoulders. “Oh my God, Renjun? Renjun, can you hear me?” He yelled out, completely panicked. He felt the boy slump forward, Jaemin catching him in his arms as he started to shake.

Everyone had been alerted by Jaemin’s panicked yell, completely shocked to see Renjun completely unresponsive with blood running down his face.

Taeyong ran over to the two, pulling Renjun away from Jaemin as to lay him gently onto the ground. Kun came up behind him with a jacket, neatly folding it and placing it under his head.

”What happened?” Taeyong asked.

”I don’t know, he looked a pale and I asked him what was wrong and then his nose started bleeding out of nowhere and he fainted.” Jaemin said, obviously shaken by what had just happened.

”Taeyong, he’s shaking.” Kun pointed out, and Taeyong glanced back to the boy in the ground, now starting to twitch. “Oh shit, he’s seizing.” Taeyong flipped the boy onto his side, calling out for someone to call an ambulance. 

Renjun was full on convulsing then, letting out choked noises as blood continued to gush our of his nose and down his face. Everyone was in panic mode at that point, not knowing what to do.

Because of the panic, no one noticed the tall man in all black standing down the hallway, watching the events silently. As the medics showed up, he turned away, completely disappearing out of thin air as if he hadn’t been there at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it’s been a while...  
> I know the time line is a bit wonky, but it’ll make more sense later, I promise. 
> 
> I have no clue when the next update will be, because I usually write when I’m inspired which isn’t very often, but I’ll try to make it not too terribly long from now. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!! I appreciate any and all comments, so don’t be shy to tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... hehe  
> Sorry for the late update, lots of stuff going on in my life recently.  
> Thank you for the kudos and comments while you’ve all been patiently waiting for a new chapter, I’ll try to keep up with it better.

When Renjun woke up, he was laying in a hospital room. Not exactly the most ideal place to wake up in.

He groaned as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights, slowly blinking to get rid of the black spots in his vision. 

Once he gained his bearings again, he looked around the room. It was empty except for him, but he had a strange feeling as if someone else was in the room with him.

Wait, why was he here again? He couldn’t remember what happened, all he knew was that his head hurt and he was exhausted.

Before he could think about it further, the door to the room swung open, and he was engulfed in a hug before he could even make out who it was.

”Oh my God, you’re alive! You scared me so bad, Injunnie, I didn’t know what to do, and you were just...shaking and bleeding and-“

”Calm down Jaemin, he’s fine, don’t smother him.”

Ah, of course. Jaemin.

”But Taeyong-Hyung, you didn’t see, he just collapsed right in front of me! I thought he died!” Jaemin had let go of Renjun to flail his arms about, emphasizing the dramatic moment.

Renjun was still a bit confused though. “Wait, I was bleeding? I...collapsed?”

Kun, who he didn’t even realize was there, took a seat right next to Renjun on the bed, taking his hand in between both of his. “You don’t remember what happened?” Renjun shook his head. Kun sent a worried glance over to Taeyong, who locked eyes with him in mutual understanding. He sighed as he turned back to Renjun, rubbing the back of the boy’s hand in comfort.

”Well, after the performance, Jaemin noticed you looked a bit pale. When he asked you if you were feeling okay, your nose started to bleed heavily and you collapsed. The doctors think you had a seizure. But they are doing everything they can to figure this all out and get you better, alright?”

Renjun froze, taking in the information slowly. That’s right, the car crash. His members, his friends had been seriously hurt, maybe even dead. He had pushed his body way too far in order to save them. And now he was in the hospital. With doctors. Who wouldn’t be able to figure out what was wrong with him. Because there wasn’t any logical explanation for how an otherwise healthy teenage boy to collapse like that out of nowhere. 

“W-where are the others? Jeno, and Chenle? Are they okay?” Renjun had to be sure that he didn’t fail, that they were safe and that he hadn’t put himself at risk for nothing.

”They’re at home, they’re worried and scared for you but they’ll be alright.” Taeyong reassured. “They wanted to come but we weren’t sure how you were doing and didn’t want to overwhelm you or anything. Of course, if we kept Jaemin away he would have a panic attack.”

”What did you expect me to do, wait in the dorm for hours or maybe even days before I heard anything? I had to see him myself.” Renjun couldn’t help but chuckle at Jaemin’s antics. “God, Minnie, you’re so dramatic.”

Before Jaemin could interject, the door opened again. They group all turned towards the doctor, greeting him politely.

”Ah Mr. Huang, I see you’re awake now. I’m Dr. Lee, I’ll be taking care of you during your stay. How are you feeling?” The doctor asked.

Renjun took a second to answer. “Um, I guess alright. Tired, and my head hurts a little bit.”

The doctor approached the boy, bringing out a small pen light. “Hmm, that’s a bit expected. Can you look at me please? Don’t look into the light.” Renjun nodded as he stared straight ahead. Dr. Lee shined the light back and forth between his eyes, checking his pupils for dilation. 

“Looking good so far. How would you rate that headache? On a scale from one to ten.”

”Uh, a 3? 4?”

The doctor nodded as he wrote on the chart on his clipboard. “Are you experiencing any confusion or dizziness?”

”A little bit of both, not too bad I think.”

”Any nausea?”

”No, uh sir.”

The doctor nodded a few times, glancing over the charts in his hand. “And I’ve been told you have no preexisting conditions that you’re aware of?”

Renjun thought for a second. “I get nose bleeds sometimes, but they aren’t bad.”

”Well, from what I can see you are recovering very nicely, Renjun. However, that seizure you suffered was pretty severe for a healthy boy like you. I want to do an MRI and a EEG, just to rule out any brain damage or epilepsy. Does that sound alright?”

 Renjun nodded his head, not very sure what the tests meant, but he’d agree to anything as long as he could get home sooner.

The boys all thanked the doctor as he left. It was only a few minutes later a nurse came in to take Renjun for his MRI.

”Can you stand? Do you need help?” Kun held onto Renjun’s arm as he slowly rose from the bed to the wheelchair. “I’m alright Hyung. Thank you.” He sat in the wheelchair, the nurse making sure he was settled before turning towards the door.

”We’ll be waiting right here for you when you’re done, okay?” Taeyong said as he was pushed out the door.

As he was wheeled down the hallway, he felt his heart rate pick up. He would be a liar if he said he wasn’t at least a little bit scared. What if he had messed himself up permanently? 

The MRI was a lot bigger and scarier than he thought it would be. Like some alien torture device.

”Don’t worry kiddo, it’s not as bad as it looks.” The MRI technician told him. He must’ve looked as nervous as he felt. 

The nurse helped him lay down on the cot, handing him a couple of ear plugs. “It gets a bit loud in there. Try to relax as much as possible, it’ll be over before you know it.”

 As the machine whirred around his head, he tried not to think too hard. He tried not to think about the repercussions of such a major time reversal, how it could cause a huge catastrophic rip in the universe or something. 

Eventually the machine stopped, and Renjun was led back to his room in the wheelchair.

”Did they find anything? There’s nothing wrong, right?” Jaemin asked as soon as he was back in the bed.

”Jaemin, the results don’t come back immediately, the doctor has to examine the scans first.” Taeyong said to him.

”Oh, right...”

Renjun laughed at him again. “I’m okay, Min, I promise.” 

Jaemin sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know, I know, I’m just... I was so scared for you. I didn’t know what was going on, and I still don’t know anything and it’s freaks me out. I’m just worried, is all.”

Renjun gave him a small smile, reaching a hand out to him. Jaemin took it, being pulled closer into a hug. The two held each other for a moment, taking comfort in the embrace.

”I’m sorry for scaring you, Jaemin. I really am. I’m scared too.” He said quietly. He was scared, really scared, just not for the same reasons as Jaemin. 

They waited for a few minutes before Renjun was taken away again for the EEG. They had to put a bunch of sticky wire things covered in goo all over his head, and it was very uncomfortable and super itchy.

They made him do some weird breathing exercises, holding his breath and making himself hyperventilate and blowing on a small paper windmill. He didn’t know what that did, but he wasn’t a doctor so he didn’t question anything, of course.

There were flashing lights in his eyes, kinda like a strobe light at a club. Then he sat in darkness for a while, laying as completely still as he could.

It felt like forever before they finally took all the wires off his head. He would definitely have to take a shower as soon as he got back to the dorms.

”Bro, why is your hair like that?”

 Renjun shot a glare at Jaemin. “It was for the test, dummy. They had to put goo all over the pads so it wouldn’t rip my hair out when they took them off.”

”You look like you haven’t washed your hair in a month.”

”What happened to ‘Oh my sweet Renjun, I was so scared for you! What ever shall we do with the poor ailing boy?’”

Jaemin scoffed at him. “You’re lucky you’re in the hospital or you’d sooooo get it.”

Kun shoved Jaemin on the shoulder lightly, the boy wincing and rubbing his arm with a hurt look on his face. “Let him rest, Jaemin, he’s had a rough day.”

Renjun didn’t realize how tired he was until Kun said something. He let out a yawn and laid back into the pillows, eyelids suddenly very heavy.

Taeyong pulled the blankets over him, making sure he was comfortable. “Go ahead and take a nap, we’ll wake you when we are ready to go home.”

Renjun nodded, snuggling into the blankets as he let the day’s events leave his mind and he drifted off to sleep.

___

 

Renjun felt someone shaking him lightly. He cracked his eyes open, still too tired to lift his head up.

”Come on, we can go home now, Renjun.”

He groaned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. “What time is it?”

”Late. But that doesn’t matter, let’s get you showered and in bed. Are you hungry? I can get Doyoung to make something for you now so it’ll be ready when we get back?” Taeyong asked him as he helped him out of bed and into the wheelchair.

”No that’s okay Hyung, I just want to wash the gunk out of my hair and go to sleep. What did the doctors say?”

”The tests came back normal. They think exhaustion had a big part in what happened, but they still aren’t sure. We’ll have to talk to the managers to see about getting appointments with a neurologist.” 

Renjun really  _really_ didn’t want to go to a specialist. He knew it would just be a waste of time. Not that time was such a scarce thing for him.

”Hyung, I don’t want to do that. I’d just prefer to forget this ever happened.”

He knew Taeyong was holding himself back from saying what he wanted. “Nobody’s going to force you to do anything. Let’s worry about it later.”

Taeyong helped Renjun into the company van. They used the back entrance as to avoid any people coming by and seeing the two. But as he was getting into the van, Renjun saw a black figure out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see a tall man in all black.

Just like the one he had seen at the music show.

He turned back towards Taeyong to see if he had seen the man too. He turned back to where the man was standing, but there was no one there.

Renjun rubbed his eyes and stared again, but there was still no one there. Maybe he had been seeing things. He was super tired after all. 

The van pulled away from the hospital, and Renjun sunk into his seat, just ready for the day to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s not the longest chapter, I’m not the best at making things long. But I already have the next chapter in the works, so it should be out very very soon! This fic is about to get real intense real fast, hope y’all are ready for a lot more drama :)
> 
>  
> 
> Also the hair thing with the EEG is 100% legit, I had to get one when I was in middle school and that shit was sooo uncomfortable and made my hair feel really gross. I had to shampoo twice for it to get all out. Hospitals suck.


	4. Chapter 4

It was expected that, despite it being very late, the Dream members would be up and waiting for him at the dorms.

Jeno practically pushed Kun away once they stepped through the doorway to wrap Renjun in a careful hug.

”I’m so glad to see you. Are you okay? Did they find anything?” He asked the boy clearly worried and a bit frantic.

”He’s okay, Jeno. Calm down a bit, you’re almost as bad as Jaemin.” Taeyong teased.

Jaemin whipped his head around to glare at the leader. “Hey! I’m not  _that_ overbearing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jeno didn’t think he was overbearing, he just cared a lot about his friend.

”Not now kids, it’s been a long day for all of us and we especially need to get this one to bed.” Kun gestured towards Renjun. “The doctors said for you to avoid any excitement for at least a few days, so we better get you settled down.”

”I’d really like to take a shower first, to get all this gunk out of my hair.” Renjun ran a couple fingers over his hair, still slick with whatever lubricant the doctor put on there.

”That’s fine, but someone has to sit in there with you to make sure you don’t collapse again.” Taeyong told him. 

“I can take a shower by myself, Hyung. I’ll be fine.”

Taeyong shook his head. “No can do. We have been strictly ordered to keep a close eye on you 24/7. Jeno, would you please sit in the bathroom with Renjun while he cleans up? The rest of you go to bed, you too Jaemin.”

Jaemin huffed, but didn’t complain otherwise. Chenle and Jisung protested, of course, but Kun swiftly shut them down and ushered them to their rooms.

“I think it’s time we head back to our dorms, let everyone know how you’re doing.” Taeyong said. “You keep an eye on him, alright?”

Jeno nodded. “I’ll make sure that someone’s with him at all times.”

After Taeyong and Kun left, Renjun headed towards the shower, Jeno tailing him.

”Are you really going to sit in here while I shower?”

”Well yeah, what if you fall? Or have another seizure?”

Renjun scoffed. “Jeno, I told you already. I’m fine, doctors said so.”

”Still, I’m doing what’s asked of me.”

He stared at Jeno, the other boy clearly serious. Renjun sighed, turning around to the shower and turning the water on.

Renjun looked back at Jeno who was still standing there, watching him with arms crossed like a body guard.

”Are you gonna stand there while I get naked or will you at least give me the decency to look away?”

Jeno’s face immediately turned a bright shade of red, spinning around. “Sorry! Tell me when I can look.”

Renjun chuckles under his breath as he took of his clothes and stepped into the shower. “All clear.”

Renjun made quick work of washing his hair, doing his best to get all of the gunk out of his hair. The warm water felt fantastic on his aching muscles, reminding him of his exhaustion. When he was done, he nearly stepped right out, almost forgetting Jeno was even there.

”Uh, Jeno, can you hand me my towel?”

Almost as soon as he asked, a towel was passed to him behind the current. He quickly dried himself off, wrapping the towel around his waist as he stepped out of the shower, slightly tripping over the edge.

Jeno rushed to grab him, firm grip on his arms to steady him. “You okay?”

Renjun blushed a little, embarrassed. “Yeah, just a bit more tired than I thought, I guess.”

Jeno flashed his iconic smile, eyes turning into crescents. “It was a good thing I was hear then.” He teased.

Renjun let out a small laugh. “I guess it was.”

The two walked to Renjun’s room, Jeno still holding onto his arm. Renjun quickly got dressed while Jeno turned away again, cheeks growing red again.

”You look like a tomato.” Renjun teased him, sitting down on his bed next to him.

”I can’t help it, I blush easily.”

Renjun went to say something in return but was interrupted by a huge yawn.

”You’re tired.”

”It’s been a long day for me.”

Jeno stared at the other with an unreadable expression on his face. He suddenly surged forward, trapping Renjun in a tight hug. Renjun returned it, head falling into his shoulder.

”I’m so glad you’re okay, Renjun. I was so scared for you.” Jeno whispered.

”You don’t have to be scared. I’ll be okay, I promise.”

The two stayed like that for a few minutes before eventually Jeno pulled away. “You need to sleep now. I’ll leave you alone for now.” He pushed himself off of he bed, headed towards the door.

Renjun suddenly grabbed his wrist, stopping him. Jeno turned to look at him, Renjun returning the stare.

”You don’t have to leave me alone. You can stay, if you want I mean.”

Jeno smiled again, slipping next to Renjun in his bed.

It didn’t take very long for either of them to fall asleep, Jeno holding Renjun like a teddy bear against him.

It felt like only a few minutes later, probably more like a few hours, when Renjun was woken by Jeno tossing and turning in his sleep.

He was saying something incoherent, but he seemed distressed, eyebrows furrowed and eyes squinted.

Renjun gently shook his arm, trying to wake him. “Jeno?”

It took a few moments for Jeno to wake up. When he eventually did, he breathed out a sigh of relief upon seeing Renjun’s worried face.

”Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine Jeno. Were you having a nightmare?”

Jeno shook his head.

”What was it about?”

Jeno took a second to answer, carefully placing his words.

”It was earlier today, I know. We were in the same clothes as today, but we were in the car, all of us. And then, it... crashed. I could feel the impact, hear the screeching of tires. It was so vivid, like it actually happened. And it hurt, actually hurt. I felt like I was dying.”

Renjun felt his face pale from what Jeno was saying.

_Oh God, he remembered._

_How could he remember?_

Renjun’s thoughts were interrupted by Jeno. “It’s nothing though. Just a weirdly vivid dream. Let’s go back to sleep.”

Renjun nodded. “Yeah, just a weirdly vivid dream.”

Renjun did not go back to sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Very very soon” apparently means a month  
> I’m terrible, sorry :/
> 
> Kinda fluffy chapter with NoMin. Don’t worry, there will be a lot more in the future!
> 
> Things are about to get crazy.


End file.
